Author: Conrad Zbikowski

Conrad Zbikowski

Conrad Zbikowski

Downtown Minneapolis resident covering local issues including parks, transportation, zoning, and development.

obama at national convention

Caucus 2020: Why should I? How do I? Who is running?

I made a grievous mistake in my last post. When I originally sent the copy to the editor, I was under the impression that caucuses were going to be held the evening of the primary at 7 p.m., in the same way the preference ballot and caucuses had been on the same day in 2016. […]

By Phil Roeder from Des Moines, IA, USA - Precinct 61, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58008907

How to Run a Ranked-Choice Caucus on the Cheap

This is what we woke up to last Tuesday. It didn’t have to be this way. From media reports, it sounds like precinct chairs were downloading an untested app the night of the caucus and running into bugs and connectivity issues. When they tried to call in their results as they had four years ago, […]

Whole Foods Produce

Help Design the Next Grocery Index

Dear streets.mn loyal readers, Last year, I worked on a grocery index that included local Minneapolis-St. Paul grocery stores and common staples. For the next index, it’s time to ask for your input on what stores and what staples you value. Since the last grocery index, I have learned that Instacart has a mark-up on […]

Steve Fletcher 3rd Ward Convention

Let’s Reform the Municipal Party Endorsement Process Before 2021

I have been involved with politics since I was a volunteer with Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s re-election campaign in 2012. I have been a campaign manager, a consultant, and a party official at an endorsement convention. I live in Minneapolis, and together with St. Paul and other cities, we have ranked-choice voting for our municipal general […]

Lyft Nice Ride Electric Bike 2020

Nice Ride and Lyft Announce 2,000 Electric Bikes for 2020

On Wednesday, Nice Ride and operator Lyft announced changes for the 2020 season. There are new developements for electric bikes, dockless, the end of the season, and Nice Ride for All. Electric Bikes and the Future of Dockless Nice Ride plans to expand the electric bike fleet to 2,000 starting in April 2020, with different […]

light rail train at Warehouse District / Hennepin Ave station

Facts: Minneapolis Violent Crime Average Citywide, Up 69 Percent in Downtown West Over 11 Years

Check out the statistics used in this article: You can research Minneapolis crime statistics on the city website and check out the collected data behind this article’s charts on Google Sheets. Crime in Minneapolis has been a hot-button issue recently, flaring up tensions over perceptions of violent crime and a policing strategy to address it. […]